Have You Ever Been Alone With God?

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Have You Ever Been Alone With God?
“When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” Mark 4:34
It has happened to me so many times. God seems to even orchestrate what books I am reading and then ties it in with what I am reading in my quiet times, and so often it coincides with what is happening in my life.

This week I have been on vacation, so I have had some time to read in between playing with the grandkids. I have been working through two leadership books that have clobbered me big time. It was rather comical at first, but then I realized that God speaks in many ways.

Today’s devotional was from January 12th writings of good old Oswald Chambers:

Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character.
It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone.
Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.

I needed to hear this today. How about you? He really does speak to hearts and transform lives. All we need to do is unclog and unplug our ears. It will be amazing what you will hear. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 40-42; Proverbs 14; Psalm 14
Compass Pointers: Seeing that distance and distrust will do nothing for you, try what drawing near and confidence will do. Horatius Bonar

Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 2:6-7; Level 2: Proverbs 2:1-11
Anchored to the Rock: Waiting for an answer to prayer is often part of the answer!

Erin, You Are A Child of God

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“Erin, You Are a Child of God!”
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”  Eph 6:4 (ESV)
Some years ago my daughter became friends with Erin. They were and still are BFF’s in the world of texting but for us older folk that would be Best Friends Forever. Erin has, overtime, become the older daughter that my wife, Kathy, and I never had. She drives our son nuts just like a sister should do and she has no problem rebuking him when he is wrong. It has been my daughters, Karen, privilege to lead Erin to Jesus; it is my privilege to be allowed to call her my sister in Christ. We have joked in the past about her being my surrogate daughter and in turn she calls me her surrogate father.
Lately Erin has been challenged by the world that surrounds her outside of our home. Her mom had her fill of a husband and father who is disconnected. This man is at a place where I once was and there is a major firewall of protection against the grace of God. This past summer Erin was able to spend ten days on the grounds of Americas Keswick with our family. Erin knows that I had gone through a place called “The Colony of Mercy” but she really didn’t understand the impact it can have until she heard the testimonies of the men who were there during this time. She was moved to write her father a letter asking him to consider what he is doing to her and come to the Colony. I don’t know how that was received but I do not believe that this father wants to walk away from his daughter. It’s in God’s hands now.
The most recent event has been the death of her uncle, her mom’s baby brother. He was killed in car crash where…speed and…were a factor. Her uncle was in the passenger seat and there are two other young men clinging on to life at the time of this writing. The news of this has stunned a whole community with a wide range of walks in life. This young man had a great impact on the people he was surrounded by. He also had sole custody of his two young daughters. Their mom made choices that have left her disconnected and away from the grace of God. My daughter spends time with these two young girls and I pray her impact is being felt. Karen is only thirteen but she preaches Jesus better in her actions than I could do with my words in any Freedom Fighter.
My wife, daughter and I went to Erin’s uncles viewing and it was crowded. The receiving line encompassed every square inch inside the funeral home and went at least two blocks along the street. This young man’s life was transformed to a DVD that was played on television screens around the funeral home while his daughters walked around and greeted people. I have never seen anything like it before. For has many tears that were being shed were as many laughs being shared. “Kevin had such a positive impact” I said to myself, “I wonder if he knows Jesus” was my following thought. And at that moment we were approached by Erin’s mom. Then she was interrupted by the funeral director who was accompanied by a Methodist minister. “I think Jesus just sent me His answer” and then we moved along with the line.
I know when things have settled down we will be seeing Erin again and I am not too sure how she will be. For the moment she is holding her own but then again… So here is what needs to be said this morning. Fathers, be there for your daughters. They look to us to see what kind of husband they marry. It is a fragile thing for us men to realize but if we are not careful with our walk with Christ our daughters may wind up with a husband that reflects the unwanted garbage that Jesus sought to have us remove. And father’s pray for and with your daughters. They need to see and hear you do that. Lastly, don’t be afraid to show them you have a heart, because they need to see your connection to them. – Chris Hughes is a regular contributor to Freedom Fighter and a graduate of the Colony of Mercy
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 38-39; Proverbs 14; Psalm 14
Compass Pointers: “One afternoon, as we were exiting the Jaffa gate, we found ourselves behind an orthodox Jewish family—a father and three small girls. One of the daughters, perhaps four or five years of age, fell a few steps behind and couldn’t see her father. “Abba!” she called to him. He spotted her and immediately extended his hand. When the signal changed, he led her and her sisters through the intersection. In the middle of the street, he reached down and swung her up into his arms and continued their journey. Isn’t that what we all need? An abba who will hear us when we call? Who will take our hand when we are weak? Who will guide us through the hectic intersections of life? Don’t we all need an abba who will swing us up into his arms and carry us home? We all need a father.”  The Great House of God   Max Lucado
Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 2:6-7; Level 2: Proverbs 2:1-11
Anchored to the Rock: There is a great difference between praying to God about something and mentioning it to him in passing. – John Blanchard

How Readest Thou?

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How Readest Thou?
“Happy are those who keep His decrees and seek Him with all their heart.” Psalm 119:2

For most of my early years, I never read the directions when putting something together. Who needs the directions? Men don’t need ‘em and we don’t ask for them.

Ultimately I would end up either having to start the project over, or end up with a couple of key pieces and blame it on the company for sending those extras! What a waste.

God has provided us the most inclusive handbook for life – His precious Word. It contains everything we will ever need to get us from point A to point B, from here to glory.

I read this little poem about the Word of God:

It is one thing to read the Bible through,
Another thing to read to learn and do.

Some read it as a duty once a week,
But no instruction from the Bible seek;
Some read to bring themselves into repute,
By showing others how they can dispute;
While others read because their neighbors do,
To see how long ‘twill take to read it through.
Some read it for the wonders that are there,
How David killed a lion and a bear;
While others read it with uncommon care,
Hoping to find some contradictions there.
One reads with father’s specs upon his head,
And sees the thing just as his father said.
Some read to prove a pre-adopted creed,
Hence understand but little that they read;
For every passage in the Book they bend,
To make it suit that all-important end.
Some people read, as I have often thought,
To teach the Bible instead of being taught;
And some there are who read it out of spite;
I fear there but few who read it right.
So many people in the latter days,
Have read the Bible in so many ways,
That few can tell which system is the best,
For every part contradicts the rest.
But read it prayerfully, and you will see,
Although men contradict, God’s words agree;
For what the early Bible prophets wrote,
We find that Christ and His apostle’s quote,
So trust no creed that trembles to recall
What has been penned by one and verified by all!
So why are YOU reading God’s Word today? – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick and with you on the journey
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 35-37; Proverbs 13; Psalm 13
Compass Pointers: Even while confined to this earth, you can be confident that your Father is watching over you. The devil took away Job’s purse and left him temporarily destitute, but Job had a God in heaven who replenished his account. As a saint, you have some collateral: your stock of faith, and your deed of inheritance as a citizen of heaven. These are great security both now and for the future. Satan knows it, and will do his best to snatch them away from you. But no matter how hard he tries…he cannot annul your faith, make void your relationship with God, or dry up the spring of your comfort though he may dam up the stream for awhile. William Gurnall

Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 2:6-7; Level 2: Proverbs 2:1-11
Anchored to the Rock: No man can pray scripturally who prays selfishly. – John Blanchard

Meeting God

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Meeting God

We’ve talked the past several days about the importance of having a daily connection with God. One of my mentors, Pastor Newton Conant, used to say that the most important meeting of his day was when he met with the Lord. In fact, I almost likened him to Moses, because if you ever had the privilege of being with him after he came from his daily time with the Lord, I think his face actually was ablaze with the glory of God.

This morning, I read this prayer from The Valley of Vision regarding my meeting with God:
Great God,
In public and private, in sanctuary and home,
May my life be steeped in prayer,
Filled with the spirit of grace and supplication,
Each prayer perfumed with the incense of atoning blood.
Help me, defend me, until from praying ground
I pass to the realm of unceasing praise.
Urged by my need, invited by Your promises,
Called by Your Spirit, I enter Your presence,
Worshipping You with godly fear,
Awed by Your majesty, greatness, glory,
But encouraged by Your love.
I am all poverty as well as all guilt,
Having nothing of my own with which to repay You,
But I bring Jesus to You in the arms of faith,
Pleading His righteousness to offset my iniquities,
Rejoicing that He will weigh down the scales for me,
And satisfy Your justice.
I bless You that great sin draws out great grace,
That, although the least sin deserves punishment
Because done against an infinite God,
Yet there is mercy for me,
For where guilt is most terrible,
There Your mercy in Christ is most free and deep.
Bless me by revealing to me more of His saving merits,
By causing Your goodness to pass before me,
By speaking peace to my contrite heart;
Strengthen me to give You no rest until Christ
Shall reign supreme within me,
In every thought, word, and deed,
In a faith that purifies the heart, overcomes the world, works by love,
Fastens me to You, and ever clings to the cross.
Wow! That those last 5 lines are pretty powerful words to pray today! Is that your desire, brother? That there will be no rest unto Christ shall reign supreme within you – in every thought, word, and deed? The more you spend time with Him, the more you will become like Him! Have you started your day WITHOUT Him? Stop what you are doing and meet with Him. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick and is glad you are on the journey with him!
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 32-34; Proverbs 12; Psalm 12
Compass Pointers: I have this day been before God and have given myself – all that I have and am – to God; so that I am in so respect my own. I have given myself clean away. Jonathan Edwards
Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 2:6-7; Level 2: Proverbs 2:1-11
Anchored to the Rock: It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk. Henry Ward Beecher
Join us on Thursday night for Men’s Fellowship with Pastor Willy Winborne! Dinner starts at 6:15 PM followed by program. Call today for reservation! 732-350-1187

I Can’t Do It — And Other Excuses

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I Can’t Do It – And Other Excuses

“As the dear pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” Psalm 42:1-2; Psalm 63:1

By the way … today is 11111! J
I have been getting comments for the past couple days from people who have decided to bail out already on the 2011 Bible Reading Plan. I want to be careful here not to sound judgmental I realize that this year’s plan takes commitment. So from the outset, I am not judging.
But I do want to say this – if there was ever a time that we needed to make a commitment to the Word of God – there is no time like today!!!  We cannot thrive and survive without spending time in the Word with the Lord, and especially daily.
Here are some of the things I have had people say:
1. It is too much reading for one day! – Do you read the newspaper? Do you read email? Do you play computer Solitaire? Farmville, or whatever other media games that suck time from our schedules? If that is the case, why can’t we spend 10-15 minutes in the Word. How many of us can just play one came of computer Solitaire? The bottom line guys, is that we do what we want to do.
2. Too much? There is no reason that you have to read all of the days passages. You would profit from reading just Proverbs, or the Psalms or the Chronological readings. We aren’t talking about being so legalistic that we can flex with the plan. The point is having your soul hunger and thirst for more of Him. Once you start, my guess is that it will create in your soul a hunger for more.
3. I can’t find my paper. Well that excuse is shot too. Each day at the bottom of Freedom Fighter, I list the Bible reading passages for the day! Nice try! J

4. I have a hard time concentrating. Read the passage out loud. Go on the internet and get a Bible reading plan. I’ve made it easy for you. Here are some links: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/; http://www.audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html; http://www.audio-bible.com/nasb/index.html. Grab your Bible and follow along. If you have an Iphone, Itouch or Ipad, there are a number of good applications to use.
The bottom time is this. The enemy of your soul does not want you to read the Word. He’d rather you play Farmville, Solitaire, or better yet, just throw in the towel. That would be a great victory for him. Don’t let him win! Be more than a conqueror in this area of your walk with the Lord. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 29-31; Proverbs 11; Psalm 11
Compass Pointers: What we are is much more important to Him than what we do for Him. We mean far more to God than the work we do. Alan Redpath

Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 2:6-7; Level 2: Proverbs 2:1-11
Anchored to the Rock: Too many people pray like boys who knock at doors, then run away.

God’s Word ALWAYS Speak to Hearts

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God’s Word ALWAYS Speaks to Hearts
“Every Scripture is God-breathed [given by His inspiration] and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience; [and] for training in righteousness [in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action], so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 [Amplified Bible]
I am amazed at the power of God’s Word. It is a book like no other. It is a book that I can read and it will give ME exactly what I need for my life, and you can read the same book and it will give YOU what YOU need.

On January 7th I was overwhelmed with all that is on my plate. I opened my copy of DAILY LIGHT ON THE DAILY PATH, which is just Scripture, and was so amazed again that God delivered from His lips to my ears, just the right words to breathe life into my soul …

Morning

Remember [me] for my good, O my God.
Thus says the Lord, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness.”—“Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.”—“I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise. . . . For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”—“I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.”—You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
Neh. 5:19; Jer. 2:2; Ezek. 16:60; Jer. 29:10, 11; Isa. 55:9; Job 5:8, 9; Ps. 40:5

Evening

“I will not leave you or forsake you.”
Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.—“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

“The Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him.”—He remembers his covenant forever.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Josh. 1:5; Josh. 21:45; Num. 23:19; Deut. 7:9; Ps. 111:5; Isa. 49:15-16; Zeph. 3:17

If you are brave enough, bold enough, willing enough to crack open God’s Word each morning, you will be amazed at how He will speak to your heart. If you haven’t started, there is no time like TODAY! – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 24-28; Proverbs 10; Psalm 10
Compass Pointers: The Father wants us to be filled only with His Christ. Will you let Him deal so thoroughly in His love, until you are consumed with Him, having to continually depend upon Him, instead of anything of yourself? For God to take you deeper into Himself, He must expose all in you that is not of Himself. I hope that, as He shines in you, you will take Him as Grace, to deal completely, so He may possess you wholly, and bring you into His fullness in your lifetime. Dr Yu. (Chinese Martyr – 1956)

Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 2:6-7; Level 2: Proverbs 2:1-11
Anchored to the Rock: The devil enjoys hearing a prayer that is addressed to an audience!

A Great Order of Service for Worship

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A GREAT ORDER OF SERVICE FOR WORSHIP
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3b)

I deeply loved our church growing up, but for over 40 years we had the same order of service. We can get easily get stuck in a rut.
In today’s Freedom Fighter, Robert Hayes shares a biblical model of worship from the book of Isaiah:
            It is such a privilege and yet a huge responsibility to lead people into the Presence of the Lord, providing an atmosphere where people can feel free to praise and to worship, to rehearse who God is, what He has done, and reminding them that He is the only sufficient One to meet them at their point of need.  When you are involved in planning worship week after week, it is common to question how to be most effective in accomplishing this awesome task.  One model given in scripture is found in Isaiah chapter 6.
            Isaiah saw the Lord.  “He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple.  Hovering around Him were mighty seraphim, each with six wings.  With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew.  In a great chorus they sang, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty!  The whole earth is filled with His glory!”  The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke.”  In seeing this picture, Isaiah was aware of his inadequacy and sin.  An angel put a burning coal from the altar and placed it on his lips and told him his guilt was removed and sins forgiven.  The Lord asked, “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people?  Who will go for us?”  Isaiah’s immediate response was, “Lord, I’ll go!  Send me.”
            It is critical that we spend time in God’s word, constantly growing in our knowledge of Him as our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Heavenly Father.  Our attitude toward Him being one of awe, admiration, respect, fear, gratefulness etc… when we hold Him in His proper position, we see ourselves as we ought.  It is hard to comprehend that such an incredible God would desire to have a personal relationship with man.  To then understand how inadequate we are in light of Who He is, to quickly confess our sin so that there is nothing between us that would interfere with our fellowship, it is easy to live a life of obedience to Him. 

            Isaiah gives us a very special insight into a unique way to plan a worship service corporately or privately.  Catch a glimpse of the awesomeness of our God, allow for time to make sure our relationship with Him is right, and then be willing to do whatever He asks. – Robert Hayes serves as Program Director at America’s Keswick
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 21-23; Proverbs 9; Psalm 9
Compass Pointers: Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about man’s search for God. For me, they might as well talk about the mouse’s search for a cat. C S Lewis

Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 2:6-7; Level 2: Proverbs 2:1-11
Anchored to the Rock: Some people treat God as they do a lawyer; they go to Him only when they are in trouble! 

Chambers Weighs In On Worship

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Chambers Weighs in on Worship

He moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord —Genesis 12:8

Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day and so I want to share with you a powerful word from the pen of Oswald Chambers about worship.
Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love-gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard it for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded (see Exodus 16:20). God will never allow you to keep a spiritual blessing completely for yourself. It must be given back to Him so that He can make it a blessing to others.
Bethel is the symbol of fellowship with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abram “pitched his tent” between the two. The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him. Rushing in and out of worship is wrong every time— there is always plenty of time to worship God. Days set apart for quiet can be a trap, detracting from the need to have daily quiet time with God. That is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be.
There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. Yet some of us seem to jump like spiritual frogs from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one. They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight.
Take some time to talk to the Lord about where you are in your journey. Where have you “pitched your tent?” – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 17-20; Proverbs 8; Psalm 8
Compass Pointers: Right gladly would He free them from their misery, but He knows only one way: He will teach them to be like Himself, meek and lowly, bearing with gladness the yoke of His Father’s will. This is the one, the only right, the only possible way of freeing them from their sin, the cause of their unrest. George Macdonald

Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 1:7; Level 2: Proverbs 1:1-7
Anchored to the Rock: Prayer that costs nothing is worth nothing; it is simply a by-product of a cheap Christianity.

God’s Economy — A Model of Balance

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God’s Economy – A model of balance

This past Sunday our church began an emphasis on God’s Economy and the Bounty of God. Pastor Keith did an excellent job in sharing from 2 Kings 4:1-7 about Elisha and the Widows oil. You might want to go to the churches website and download the message (Elisha and the Bounty of God, Part 1). It will be well worth your time.

In the beginning of the message he touched on a point that made me think. The point was that we need a biblical view of God’s economy. He gave Third John 2 as a reference for those who preach the “Prosperity Gospel”. But then he gave James 2:5 as a reference for those who preach the “Poverty Gospel”. We have probably heard dynamic speakers from both of these camps.
But what is God’s view on exactly how much money we should have? Pastor Keith went on to reference 1 Timothy 6:17-19 which gives a balanced look of God’s view of our finances. We discussed these verses on this blog a few posts back in God’s Economy “The Cliff notes Version“. You might want to check that post out to refresh your memory.
It seems to me that many of God’s principles on money are given in the form of balance. Proverbs 21:20 tells us to save, but Ecclesiastes 5:13 tells us to be careful of saving too much. Joseph and even Paul heeded the advice of Luke 14:28 and Proverbs 21:5 which encourage us to plan. After all, a budget is nothing more than a year by year plan of how we will spend our money. But what does God’s Word tell us about planning in Proverbs 3:5,6? Trust God and not our plans.
How about getting advice? Proverbs 12:15 tells us to get counsel, but Proverbs 14:15 tells us that listening to everyone is being naïve.
So what is the point here? The point is that God does not want us to be overly focused on savings, planning, riches, poverty or the other aspects of our finances. He wants us to focus on Him. That is what God’s economy is all about. It is allowing God to use money to direct our attention to Him and not allowing money to divert our attention away from Him. Any extreme can take our focus off God and fix our focus on the extreme. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 19:24 it is difficult for a rich man to get into heaven. Not that the riches are wrong, they are certainly not. But it is pretty easy to get our eyes off of God and onto the riches.
It is also easy to get our focus off God and onto our poverty, or planning, savings or getting counsel for that matter. I believe this is why in God’s economy the best place for us to be is in the middle. Financially in the middle keeps us away from the temptation of too much attention on the money we have or the money we do not have. Proverbs says it best in Proverbs 30:8b. Don’t make me rich or don’t make me poor. Give me a financial balance in my life where the temptations of focusing on my poverty or my prosperity do not get in the way of focusing on God. – George Hutchison shares his biblically-based thoughts on finances in his blog, Stewardship Insight. He is an instructor with Crown Financial and serves on the Board of America’s Keswick.
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 14-16; Proverbs 7; Psalm 7
Compass Pointers: Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation, regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong. Just as what we may call holiness without love is not God’s kind of holiness, so also what we may call love without holiness, is not God’s kind of love…A false spirit of accommodation is sweeping the world as well as the Church, including those who claim the label of evangelical.
Francis A. Schaeffer

Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 1: 7; Level 2: Proverbs 1:1-7
Anchored to the Rock: Avail yourself to the greatest privilege this side of heaven – prayer! Jesus Christ died to make this communion and communication with the Father possible. – Billy Graham

Fear God, But Don’t Live in Fear (Part 2)

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Fear God, But Don’t Live in Fear

“The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principle and the choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skillful and godly wisdom, instruction and discipline.” Proverbs 1:7 [The Amplified Bible]

He has been a part of my life since I was 15. He was my boss for three summers, became and mentor, friend, and confidante, and then years later, he became my boss again for seven years.
That was over 41 years ago. And even though I am 56, the President and CEO of a major Christian ministry for 14 years, I still have a respect and fear of my old boss, Neil Fichthorn. In fact, I have at least one dream a week that I am still working for him and forgot to do something.
While I have so much respect for him, I don’t live in fear of him. Remember the definition I shared yesterday from Stormie Omartian’s book? “Having the fear of the Lord means you have such a love and reverence for Him that you are afraid of what life would look like without Him.”
As much as I love and respect Neil, and my love for God should produce a love and reverence for Him that I would be afraid to live life without Him!

Here are six more principles of what this reverential fear and trust produces in the life of a believer:

7. God watches over you. “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.” Psalm 33:18
8. God helps you walk away from evil. “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” Proverbs 1:6
9. God gives you everything you need. “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Psalm 34:9-10

10. God reveals all you need to know. “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” Psalm 25:14

11. God keeps your life from being shortened. “The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.” Proverbs 10:27
12. God sends His angels to free you from harm. “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” Psalm 34:7
I suggested yesterday you write these promise/principles on 3X5 cards. Do it! Review them daily for the next week. What would your life be like without Him? – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Job 10-13; Proverbs 6; Psalm 6
Compass Pointers: If you, your heart, your will, are enlisted on the good side, if you are wishing and trying that the good in you should conquer the bad, then you are on the side of God Himself, and God is on your side; and “if God be for us, who shall be against us?” Take courage, then. If thou dislikest thy sins, so does God. If thou art fighting against thy worst feelings, so is God. On thy side is God who made all, and Christ who died for all, and the Holy Spirit who alone gives wisdom purity, nobleness. How canst thou fail when He is on thy side? On thy side are all spirits of just men made perfect, all wise and good souls in earth and heaven, all good and wholesome influences, whether of nature or of grace, of matter or of mind. How canst thou fail if they are on thy side?  Charles Kingsley

Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 1:7; Level 2: Proverbs 1:1-7
Anchored to the Rock: It is strange that in our praying we seldom ask for a change of character, but always a change in circumstances.